Winstanley: Warts and All

by Kevin Brownlow

Winstanley: Warts and All" is the story of the making of the film "Winstanley," written by director Kevin Brownlow and now published for the first time, telling what went wrong (everything), and how the film was kept from audiences all over the world, but was declared a work of genius in France. ... ... In the words of director, Kevin Brownlow: "My first book was How It Happened Here, about the making of my first film. As a film historian, I thought I should keep a careful record of the making of Winstanley as well. It was written immediately after the events had occurred, when my memory was vivid. The manuscript sat on the shelf for 34 years, but reading it back recently I found some of the verbatim dialogue, especially the excuses from the laboratories for ruining our precious film, very amusing - which I certainly didn't at the time. UKA Press suggested putting it into print at last, since they had already reprinted How It Happened Here. They have been very generous with photographs, and combined with the DVD, just released, the book makes a fascinating example of how-not-to-do-it for any budding film-maker." ... ... "The Kevin Brownlow / Andrew Mollo duo are among the most challenging and idiosyncratic of independent filmmakers. They have made only two films, It Happened Here (1966), and Winstanley. Although both made friends and enemies in equal measure, they are at last enjoying wider recognition as outstanding and important films. ... Brownlow, a first rank film historian, and Mollo, historical consultant on such iconic masterpieces as Dr Zhivago, used amateur actors to create both films on shoestring budgets, working at weekends and driven by a fanaticism for historical accuracy and a fascination with the subject matter, which is the playing-out of big social visions (fascism, socialism) in the lives of ordinary people. ... Filmed in black-and-white, Winstanley is intensely beautiful visually, comparable to the work of Eisenstein, Dreyer, or Abel Gance. Indeed the meticulous accuracy of the sets and costumes alone would justify its inclusion in any film lover's collection. But over and above this it tells the heart-rending story of the visionary Winstanley's beautiful dream overturned by the might of the entrenched aristocracy and the common people's fear of change.

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Kevin Brownlow, is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent documenting and restoring film. He has rescued many silent films and their history. His initiative in interviewing many largely forgotten, elderly film pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s preserved a legacy of cinema. Brownlow received an Academy Honorary Award at the 2nd Annual Governors Awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on November 13, 2010.